Rare is the contemporary artist who can make the “personal” universal. Liz Shepherd is one of these special artists. She experienced agonies with Covid-19: her contraction of the virus, loss of creative time, total isolation and a non-Thanksgiving. Her brush with death, loneliness and confusion is translated into a positive vision at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, one all viewers may relate to. Shepherd is an artist who has spent decades exploring many media, and is in total control of her craft. She confidently mixes soft-media papier-mâché with the unyielding hardness of welded steel. A lost Thanksgiving meal is her symbol for the devastation wrought by the virus. Three empty black-wire chairs surround a non-existent table. An exquisitely crafted paper pitcher, a serving bowl and ladle float in the air, Empty placemats hang nearby. On a wall close-by, 16 colorful … [Read more...] about SURvIVING THE LONELINESS OF COVID: LIZ SHEPHERD’S POWERFUL UNGATHERED AT BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY
Exhibits
WORKING IN A MULTITUDE OF MEDIUMS, SOWA ARTIST STEVEN LUSH REFLECTS HIS INFLUENCES
Artist Steven Lush, who operates out of Studio #220 in the SoWa Artists Guild Building at 450 Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End, has led an extraordinary career. His work reflects the extraordinary life and approach towards life as an artist that he took. Born to an artistic family, Lush’s mother was a major influence on his decision to go into art. She was an artist herself as well as a musician. She taught him how to draw and paint when he was five years old, which led to him developing an interest in drawing and ultimately becoming a self-taught artist. Despite his interest in drawing early on in his life, for a period of 15 years, Lush’s work was primarily done in the medium of watercolor on paper. His inspiration to use this medium came from looking at the watercolor work of Winslow Homer in a magazine that his mother owned when he was growing up. Other artists are not … [Read more...] about WORKING IN A MULTITUDE OF MEDIUMS, SOWA ARTIST STEVEN LUSH REFLECTS HIS INFLUENCES
SLOW AND STEADY AT VOLTA AS ARTISTS SHARE THEIR VISIONS OF A BETTER AND BRIGHTER WORLD
With 69 galleries representing five continents, 50 cities and 40 nations, VOLTA Basel 2021 is showing beautiful work. Evoking nature in several exhibitions, it satisfies my and probably your craving for natural beauty amid the emptiness and depressing devastation of cities during Covid. At Charlie Smith, London, artist Dominic Shepherd paintings are inspired by fairy tales, including “Hedge Witch-2021” and “The King is Dead, Long Live the King 2.” As we have all learned, fairy tales can be both delightful and frightening and Shepherd’s paintings attest to that duality. Iranian artists at three galleries new to VOLTA this year, Bavon Gallery, Mohlsen Gallery and Saradipour Gallery (SARAI), repeat the natural beauty motif. At Saradipour Art (SARAI), Mahdieh Abolhasen’s layers of land and history interacting in her grey, drawings encourage a slow, contemplative connection with … [Read more...] about SLOW AND STEADY AT VOLTA AS ARTISTS SHARE THEIR VISIONS OF A BETTER AND BRIGHTER WORLD
A SENSE OF PLACE: NASHOBA VALLEY ARTISTS & HISTORICAL LEGACY CELEBRATED IN GROTON
There are certain locations around the world that have always attracted artists, and Groton, in the heart of Massachusetts’ Nashoba Valley, is one. The former home of Edmund Tarbell of the Boston School, who fell in love with the landscape; Mary Minifie, who follows in his footsteps; and Paul Matisse, whose Kalliroscope Gallery, in a repurposed old church, is a focal point of Groton’s local art and music scene. The work of these three and more than 20 other area artists will be on display through October 31 in “Sense of Place,” with a celebratory reception at The Groton Inn this Sunday, September 26, from 2-5 p.m. The Inn is also home to two J. D. Poor murals and a working gallery, the NOA Gallery at The Groton Inn, featuring 60 rotating works by New England artists. The exhibit was the idea of Bobbie Spiegelman, former President of the Groton History Center, whose goal was “to … [Read more...] about A SENSE OF PLACE: NASHOBA VALLEY ARTISTS & HISTORICAL LEGACY CELEBRATED IN GROTON
OUR SHARED HUMANITY: AMY FORD’S IN RELATIONSHIP EXHIBITION AT MCLAUGHLIN-HILLS BARN GALLERY
When you think “portrait artist” and the likes of Leonardo da Vinci (“The Mona Lisa”) or Rembrandt (“Self Portrait”) surface, you’re way off base. If you think Vincent Van Gogh (“Self-portrait in Straw Hat”), you’re getting closer. If you think Gustav Klimt (“Portrait of Adele Block Bauer”) you’re staying on track. But when you say “portrait painting” in the context of Seacoast (New Hampshire/Maine) artist Amy Ford, you need to capture an artistic expression more like Chuck Close (pixelated collages) or Picasso (Cubism and fragmentation). And yet, Amy Ford is none of these. She exudes her own poetic essence via her canvases and boards. Ford’s formal training began in the studio of Italian artist, Silvestro Pistolesi, where he instilled the classical Italian sensibilities and discipline so apparent in his work, and early on reflected in Ford’s work. And while Ford immersed herself in … [Read more...] about OUR SHARED HUMANITY: AMY FORD’S IN RELATIONSHIP EXHIBITION AT MCLAUGHLIN-HILLS BARN GALLERY
ARTISTS EXPLORE ‘ANOTHER CROSSING’ AT THE FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM
Over 400 years ago, the course of history changed when English colonists set out across the Atlantic bound for the “New World.” But for the Wampanoag people, this land was old, storied and contained everything they had ever known. At the Fuller Craft Museum, 10 artists were brought together to explore the depth and history of this event with its “Another Crossing: Artists Revisit the Mayflower Voyage” exhibition, on view through October 10. For artists Annette Bellamy, Sonya Clark, David Clarke, Michelle Erickson, Jeffery Gibson, Jonathan James-Perry, Jasleen Kaur, Christien Meindertsma, Katie Schwab and Allison Smith, this was no simple task. “The implications of the Mayflower crossing are so far-reaching that they are difficult to comprehend,” said Glenn Adamson, exhibition curator. “The voyage is both a national origin story and, given the widespread devastation of the … [Read more...] about ARTISTS EXPLORE ‘ANOTHER CROSSING’ AT THE FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM